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Former Ohio State band coach accused of raping a female student has been sentenced

Updated: 1:08 PM CDT Jun 29, 2016

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Former Ohio State band coach accused of raping a female student has been sentenced

Updated: 1:08 PM CDT Jun 29, 2016

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COLUMBUS, Ohio —

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A former Ohio State University drum major instructor accused of raping a female student was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual battery and apologizing to the victim in court.

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A Franklin County judge heard from the young woman and 29-year-old Stewart Kitchen before sentencing him. He also must register as a sex offender.

The woman said Kitchen was a coach - not a date or a friend - who abused his authority and assaulted her at his Columbus home in April 2015 despite her saying no and pleading with him to stop. She said he later tried to manipulate how she recalled and described what happened. He'd gone out drinking, and she had met him only in hopes of discussing summer practice, she said, noting that she had no more than one drink and had her wits about her but was "frozen in fear."

"I said 'no,'" the woman said. "No means no. I said, 'Take me home.' That means take me home. ... I said, 'Do not have sex with me.'"

She recounted how she later left the university with a damaged sense of safety and self-confidence and saw ripple effects in her relationships with friends and her own attitudes. The Associated Press generally doesn't identify sexual assault victims.

Kitchen said he takes responsibility for making poor decisions and acknowledged that the woman did nothing wrong but still suffers because of what happened.

"I am sorry, I truly am," he said in court to the woman, who didn't acknowledge him. "I didn't mean to put you through that."

The judge said Kitchen will be on parole for five years after he is released from prison.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)